Welcome

Tracing your family tree and recording your family history is one of the world's most popular pass times. This is Moonee Valley Libraries' guide to some of the resources available through the library and online. You can use these tools to create an interesting, engaging family history.

This guide covers how to use Ancestry Library Edition and Find my Past, which are two online resources which can be accessed within any of Moonee Valley Libraries' five library branches. It also offers some tips about beginning and recording your research, and tells you about a number of other recommended resources to use when researching your family history.

Ancestry vs Find my Past

Much of this guide is about two important databases that you can can use for family history research, Ancestry Library Edition and Find my Past? So, what is the difference between these two resources?

They are similar, and a lot of records can be found in either database, but many records will only be in one or the other. Very generally, Ancestry Library Edition has broader coverage with records from all around the world while Find my Past seems to have better coverage of records from the Australia and the Pacific, and it is perhaps better than Ancestry when it comes to military records from the UK.

This information, as well as your own personal preference for which database you find easier to use, may determine where you search first. But remember if you don't find what you are after in one it is well worth trying the other.

Remember as well that the records in databases quite often change. This makes it extra important that you record what you find as you find it - sometimes when you come back a week later, that all important record is no longer there!

If your family lived in the Moonee Valley area, you could try searching in our catalogue for pictures, just in case we hold a photograph of one of your ancestors. Try searching with their names as well as the keyword picture, (eg. Maud Kelly picture). We don't have a lot of historical photographs of people, but you never know...

There is a wealth of data on the Web for those researching a family tree. However, the sheer volume of information and diversity of websites can make starting your search confusing and time-consuming. Help is at hand with this clear and authoritative guide from the National Archives.

Family history sleuthing is the biggest hobby worldwide. Most genealogy books and sites show how to research your family. TV programs like 'Who Do You Think You Are?' glamourise. But crafting your findings into a format others will want to read, is the real challenge. Why are you writing it? Who is your prospective reader? How can you craft the facts for them to access easily?